2000 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

The American City Racing League (ACRL) was founded in 1988 for race cars that compete in the Sports Car Club of America’s Sports 2000 category. In a unique format, teams of two to five vehicles represent different cities. During a race weekend, a team's score is the sum of the team's three leading drivers' points, one of which must be a Sports 2000. Competitors compete for both individual and team awards.

The ACRL began as a West Coast series and made its East Coast debut in 1999 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

This year’s Eastern division schedule consists of six races at four different venues. The season kicks-off in May at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. Next on the calendar is the ACRL’s only doubleheader, which takes place at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in conjunction with the Grand-Am series. In early July, the teams travel to Road America for round four. The penultimate event sees the series return to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for a weekend with CART. The finale is conducted at Watkins Glen International.

In the Eastern division, there are three classes.

Sport 2000 (S2) – The cars competing in Sports 2000 are open-cockpit, mid-engine sports racing vehicles, typically utilizing an aluminum monocoque chassis, composite bodywork and four-speed racing transmission. Chassis’ are manufactured by Carbir, Swift, Lola, Doran, Mallock, Van Dieman and Shrike. The cars in this category are powered by a Ford four-cylinder, 2-liter, single-overhead camshaft motor. The Sports 2000s have a minimum weight of 1,310-pounds with the driver and a top speed of approximately 150-mph.
Classic Sports 2000 (CS2) – These vehicles in this group are constructed to the same chassis specifications and rules as the Sports 2000 category. They also use the same engine, but this class is for cars built before 1985.
Sports 1600 (S16) – The Sports 1600 is for the World Sports Racer’s that used to compete in an IMSA support series. The Sports 1600 are powered by a four-cylinder 1.6-liter, double-overhead camshaft motor, used in the Toyota MR2 and is tuned to produce 150-horsepower. The cars also use the MR2 transaxle and approximately thirty-percent of the suspension components, including the brakes.

All competitors race on Hoosier tires and use 101 Octane racing fuel.

Rounds two and three of the American City Racing League were held the first weekend in June at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Drivers would compete in two twenty-lap events around the thirteen-turn 2.258-mile road course.

The reigning Sports Car Club of America Sports 2000 National Champion, John Fergus, drove the No. 00 Carbir CS98 and was a member of Team Columbus. Fergus qualified second for race one and led fifteen-laps before overheating front tires forced him to surrender the lead and finish second. On Sunday, he started third but moved into second-place early. When the leader, Andy Lally, retired, Fergus, scored the victory.

Duke Johnson was unable to participate in rounds two and three at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Filling the seat in the No. 4 Carbir CS98 for Team St. Louis was Andy Lally. This was Lally’s series debut. He qualified on the pole for Saturday’s contest but lost the lead to John Fergus. When Fergus encountered tire issues Lally, grabbed the win. In round three, he started first but retired with a broken CV joint.

Team Boston’s Adam Burrows swept the Sports 1600 category at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course doubleheader. The driver No. 43 SVC qualified on the class pole for race one and started thirteenth overall. Burrows advanced one position to finish twelfth overall. The next day, he started from the top spot in his class and was ninth overall at the end of the event. After three victories, Burrows led the category with 306-points.

Another former Sports Car Club of America National Champion competing at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was 1997 and 1998 Sports 2000 titlist, David Downey. After a seven-month layoff, Downey returned to competition. Driving the No. 14 Team Chicago Lola T89/90, he qualified third fastest. But he was no match for the leaders and finished third. On Sunday, Downey inherited a runner-up finish when Lally retired.

The No. 42 Team Boston SVC was piloted by Darius Grala. Grala didn’t compete in the opening weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway but proved to be on pace at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. During the qualifying session for round two, he was fifteenth fastest and started second in Sports 1600. Grala captured a runner-up result in his category. The next day, he battled with John Faulkner for a third in class.

The third former Sports Car Club of America National Champion competing at the doubleheader was A.J. Smith. Smith earned the 1995 C Sports Racer crown driving the No. 92 Pratt-Miller. In the first race of the weekend, the Team Philadelphia driver qualified and finished fourth. In round three, Smith started fourth but was one of the beneficiaries of Andy Lally’s misfortune and captured the final position on the podium.

The third member of the Team Boston squad was John Faulkner in the No. 44 SVC. At the conclusion of the first qualifying session, Faulkner was eighteenth fastest. He started and finished third in the Sports 1600 category. On Sunday, Faulkner fared better. During the twenty-lap contest, he passed his teammate Darius Grala for second-place and finished 19.042-seconds behind the winner, Adam Burrows.

The Mid-Ohio doubleheader attracted only one Classic Sports 2000 competitor. The No. 90 Swift DB2 was driven by Jack Banha. Banha was collecting points for Team Philadephia. During the qualifying session, he recorded the twelfth fastest time but finished in the seventeenth position. In the finale, Banha was gridded fourteenth for the start and was in tenth place at the checkered flag.

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	CITY / CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	1	S2	Andy Lally	St. Louis / Carbir CS98	20	-
2	2	S2	John Fergus	Columbus / Carbir CS98	20	-
3	3	S2	David Downey	Chicago / Lola T89/90	20	-
4	4	S2	A.J. Smith	Philadelphia / Pratt-Miller	20	-
5	5	S2	Dan Dubrovich	New York / Doran	20	-
6	6	S2	Craig Chima	Columbus / Lola T91/90	20	-
7	7	S2	John Burke	New York / Carbir CS98	20	-
8	8	S2	David Dullum	Washington DC / Lola T88/90	20	-
9	9	S2	Jeff Clinton	St. Louis / Lola T87/90	20	-
10	14	S2	David Ferguson	Salinas / Swift DB5	20	-
11	11	S2	Bob Liebert	Columbus / Miller RM-2	19	-
12	13	S16	Adam Burrows	Boston / SVC	19	-
13	17	S2	Darryl Shoff	Philadelphia / Swift DB5	19	-
14	15	S16	Darius Grala	Boston / SVC	19	-
15	18	S16	John Faulkner	Boston / SVC	19	-
16	19	S16	Steve Knight	Portland / SVC	19	-
17	12	CS2	Jack Banha	Philadelphia / Swift DB2	18	-
18	16	S16	Mel Hawkins	Portland / SVC	18	-
19	10	S2	Jim Ballard	Philadelphia / Lola T89/90	11	Mechanical

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	ENTRANT	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	3	S2	John Fergus	Columbus / Carbir CS98	20	-
2	2	S2	David Downey	Chicago / Lola T89/90	20	-
3	4	S2	A.J. Smith	Philadelphia / Pratt-Miller	20	-
4	6	S2	Dan Dubrovich	New York / Doran	20	-
5	8	S2	John Burke	New York / Carbir CS98	20	-
6	11	S2	Jim Ballard	Philadelphia / Lola T89/90	20	-
7	7	S2	Jeff Clinton	St. Louis / Lola T87/90	19	-
8	13	S2	Bob Liebert	Columbus / Miller RM-2	19	-
9	12	S16	Adam Burrows	Boston / SVC	19	-
10	14	CS2	Jack Banha	Philadelphia / Swift DB2	19	-
11	18	S16	John Faulkner	Boston / SVC	19	-
12	15	S16	Darius Grala	Boston / SVC	19	-
13	17	S2	Darryl Shoff	Philadelphia / Swift DB5	19	-
14	6	S2	Craig Chima	Columbus / Lola T91/90	18	-
15	8	S2	David Dullum	Washington DC / Lola T88/90	18	-
16	1	S2	Andy Lally	St. Louis / Carbir CS98	17	-
17	16	S16	Mel Hawkins	Portland / SVC	6	Did Not Finish
18	19	S16	Steve Knight	Portland / SVC	5	Did Not Finish
19	14	S2	David Ferguson	Salinas / Swift DB5	4	Did Not Finish

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